Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Day 41 The Seed is Planted!!

Happy Hump Day folks (get your mind out of the gutter Christine!!). It is Wednesday and I have had the best week ever so far. I am loving my new job, I started my senior year in college, and I am doing so well on my diet and working out!! God has blessed me mightily by answering all my prayers! I am rejuvenated and ready to work hard for A's in school, my work is very satisfying now that I am a billable resource, and I am really beginning to feel how much better conditioned I am physically, mentally and emotionally. Here is a great example, I went for a walk tonight with Kathy. We are in different places as far as what physical shape we are in, so I took it easy for her laps and then I took off like a bat out of hell for mine and just noticed how much faster I was walking even moreso after that! Another example of the great changes in my lifestyle is one that deals with food. I remember back in the day, I got lots of dirty looks from Kathy for going in the kitchen after supper and making a bologna sandwich, or grabbing a bag of chips and killing half of them or the most common one, two hot dogs, but not once, but twice during the night. I was a junk food junkie and was ecstatic about it. Well tonight, while I was walking my last lap, want to know what craving so bad I couldn't see straight? Get this. I wanted a stalk of celery with a tablespoon of peanut butter spread over it!! No junk, actual food with a nutritional value!! And other nights I want fat free yogurt, cantaloupe, strawberries..... all those crazy health foods I avoided before! That is my cravings now! I mean wow folks, how crazy is that!?!

Another thing I want to brag about is I think one of my main goals at the outset of this journey is coming true. I think Lauren is starting to catch on that I am doing this and is interested in it. She has started asking me more and more often "how many calories in this?" and she will say " I am watching my calories too" even though she isn't really I don't think. Apparently she asked Kathy the other night why I don't like pasta and Kathy told her I didn't consider it a good calorie value. It apparently stuck with her because she asked me tonight about it and said huh really? Now she did eat her mac and cheese, but at least I know what I am doing is making an impression on her. I saw her the other day eyeballing my belly and you could see her wheels were in motion. She never said anything, but I could tell she was thinking.

So over the last three days, I just am not getting any where in the general vicinity of my calorie bank. As I type this, I am done for the day and I have 1390 calories and once again, not the least bit hungry. I did have to do some fast thinking today though. I let myself run out of eggs (oh and I have a story about eggs too!) so for breakfast I had a full cup of cereal and milk. I usually do a half cup of each and keep my calories down that way. I knew I really needed some protein too though or I would be starving around mid morning. I recently decided that since my new office has much less kitchen capacity and I don't have quite the flexibility of eating privileges there, I would go ahead and stop taking heat and eats for lunch, and instead, I bought some of those pitas I talk about all the time and some low sodium turkey breast lunch meat and brown mustard. For lunch now I am having three slices of the turkey breast, two tablespoons of brown mustard, and all that on a pita. It is a total of 140 calories and it yummmmy!! So for my protein, I stole from my lunch meat and got that in. I had three slices of it and it was great even without the pita. For my snack I had my usual tuna with brown mustard and dill relish. I still like that for a snack, but I am fixing to start looking around for a new alternative with similar protein content and calorie value. Are there any suggestions? So anyway, that gets us to supper. It was not the most healthy supper but it was dang good. Kathy took some bell peppers and onions and sauteed them in EVOO (wait for it) then she sliced up a polska kielbasa sausage and cooked it all together, with a salad on the side that I used the last of the bleu cheese dressing on. It was only a tablespoon though so it was 150 calories, and the serving of kielbasa I had was around 465 calories. I ended up the day with my two favorite evening snacks, yogurt and peanut butter on celery! mmm mmmmm good Maynard!

So I am less than 32 hours from my next weigh in and I am chomping at the bit! I almost went for a sneak peek tonight, but one of the other things I am working on in my life is my patience. It has gotten me in some binds before and I need to get that shored up if I am going to be an attorney. So any way, I am psyched. I have it figured out already. Scenario 1: I have not lost 11 pounds again, but I have lost around 6 which puts me in the 260's and that was my goal for this weigh in. I am happy and my attitude goes sky high! Scenario 2: I have not lost much weight at all if any, at which point I re-evaluate the last two weeks, see where I likely screwed up and go at it even harder than before! OOOOH RAH Bloggers!


10 comments:

  1. You're in such an incredible place right now Shane...mentally, physically...keep moving forward my friend. This post has been the brightest part of my day today. It really made me smile.

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  2. Get some extra water after that sausage! The Turkey Kielbasa is yummy amd less calories. How about a cheese stick or a yogurt instead of the tuna?? I don't really watch the protein, so that may not be high enough.

    BTW, I love how positive your outlook is... it is so encouraging to read!

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  3. Awesome Shane. Truly. You are doing so well and I am so excited to hear about your weigh in this time!

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  4. I am so proud to read about all your accomplishments. Wow, what a day brightener. Your writing is so upbeat, it is simply contagious! My suggestion for protein is legumes- they are a little higher in calories-but, I think you can spare them. I like to mix few beans together like black, kidney and chickpeas in a bowl. I cut up an onion and toss in and maybe a little corn. This is a great topper for almost any green salad, full of protein and easy on our food footprint because it is plant based.enjoy!

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  5. I want to be a billable resource!!! Glad you love it there!

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  6. Okay so here are some high-protein snack ideas:
    * Beef jerky
    * Cottage cheese with fruit
    * Egg whites
    * Protein bars (just be aware of the high calories in them and make necessary adjustments elsewhere. Check out Designer Whey bars.)
    * Greek yogurt
    * Leftover grilled chicken or grilled sirloin

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  7. Thanks everybody for the kind words and the suggestions! I love my bloggy peeps!! Ya'll rule!

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  8. Oh! I forgot protein shakes. They are an easy, on the go solution! You just have to watch out for them being high in calories. (Add milk, and it's even more calories!)

    I personally combined two brands: GNC Pro Performance® AMP Amplified Wheybolic Extreme 60™ - Vanilla (has 60 grams of protein!!!) and CytoSport™ Muscle Milk® Light - Cookies 'n Creme (25 g protein).

    Now, ideally I'd just use the first one...really beef up that protein content you know? However, I find that the vanilla flavor is a bit...chalky. It's good, but it's not GREAT. So that's why I've got the 2nd brand. The Cookies N Cream is really yummy and is like a dessert! So I'll mix a little more than half of the first one (1 scoop) and a little less of the second one (1/2 a scoop) for a drink that has about 280 calories and 52 grams of protein.

    That's a LOT of calories (well, for me anyway) so it should be treated as a full meal replacement, not just a "drink in between meals."

    Links to the products if you're interested:

    http://www.gnc.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2557385&cp=3593187

    http://www.gnc.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3513369

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  9. Awesome post. Found you over a Jo's blog and I appreciated your comments on not weighing every day. It's kind of an obsession for some (myself included) unfortunately. A better way to use the scale effectively would be once a month, but I don't think I could handle it.

    Love all the positive things going on in your life and great for setting an example for your little one - much better than preaching, right? Congrats to you!

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  10. I'll be patiently waiting to hear about the weigh-in. You have done so well so far...I know it will be a good one.

    I am still weighing every day, but not upset by it. It's just so I'll know if something I ate yesterday has more sodium or MSG than I thought. Just learning about my body and what I put in it.

    I'm glad Kathy is still on plan with you (or her own). It's easier when you have a buddy to share the ups and downs.

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